Brian Dowd
An Interview with Tommy Jay Dwyer
In a world that is increasingly more polarized, it feels as though there are fewer things on which everyone can agree: Pizza, sure; Dolly Parton, of course. But maybe another area of common ground is the respect and admiration we all have for our local Fire Departments and the men and women who choose to serve our communities as firefighters.
“It’s without a doubt that the public loves the fire department, right? I saw it myself when we rode along with these men and women. When you’re riding down the street on a fire truck everybody looks at you. Everybody smiles, wants you to blow the air horn, waves, gives you the fist bump,” recollects Tommy Jay Dwyer, director of the new documentary “Burning Down The House” premiering this month at the Hanover Theatre & Conservatory for the Performing Arts.
Dwyer is a Worcester kid through and through. A proud product of Webster Square, he attended St. Peter-Marian, followed by Worcester State University, before heading to New York City to pursue his filmmaking dreams. “I joined the Screen Actors Guild in 2006, so I’ve been in it for a long time. Around COVID is when I started trying to make stuff myself. I came back to Worcester and realized that maybe I can start doing this right here and try and create a sustainable economy in Central Mass to do this.”
Dwyer hit the ground running, and after writing and directing a couple of very well-received short films right here in Worcester, he was approached with an opportunity that would prove a no-brainer for him. “‘Burnin’ Down the House’ came about when the Last Call Foundation reached out to me because they found out there was a local director that had family on the fire department.” His father, uncles, and cousins all have or currently work as firefighters so they had called the right man for the job. “I’m basically one of two male Dwyers that aren’t firefighters.” Here was Dwyer’s chance to use his talents to spread awareness of an overlooked epidemic in the occupation his family members have committed their lives to.
“Burnin’ Down the House” documents conditions in three fire stations in three very different parts of Massachusetts, Worcester, Fall River, and Westwood, dealing with the same shocking problem. “Two thirds of the firefighters’ line of duty deaths in 2025 (according to the International Association of Fire Fighters) came from occupational cancer. A lot of that comes from the gear they wear, which they hang up and sit next to all day long… I saw mold, mildew, asbestos… exhaust from the trucks pulling in and out of the stations. A lot of that is very preventable stuff that we’re just turning a blind eye to.”
We show our appreciation and respect to these heroes for the dangers they face in our streets but, as Dwyer and his crew uncovered, the true danger is often behind closed doors; in the stations and the very gear that these men and women rely on to keep them safe. A bit of sad, dark irony. Our firefighters deserve better and, though funding has increased and science is working to develop new, safer gear, these challenges remain.
“What I’m trying to do is bring this out into the light for people to say, ‘wow, something really needs to change here.’ We could prevent a lot of sickness and death in these first responders that shouldn’t be happening. We know they have a dangerous job. Why make it unnecessarily dangerous?”
“Burnin’ Down the House” Premieres at the Hanover Theatre & Conservatory for the Performing Arts, Thursday, August 6 at 7:30pm. The premiere itself plays a heroic role, as 50 percent of ticket sales proceeds will be donated to The Last Call Foundation, which provides to provide funding, education and research to advance the safety needs of the firefighting community.
